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WASHINGTON — For many frequent fliers, the announcement arrives with some relief: "At this time, the captain would like to ask all passengers to please turn off any portable electronic devices, including cell phones and pagers."
With the hassles and hold-ups of modern-day air travel—the crowded terminals and long check-in lines, the shoeless security checkpoints and overbooked flights—many frazzled passengers find sanctuary in a silent cabin.
At the same time, other passengers are eager to carry on a conversation while they fly.
The Federal Communications Commission has weighed in on the side of those who want to talk on their cell phones by proposing rules to allow it, although it is not at all clear that its stance will win out over objections from other government agencies.
Meanwhile, surveys suggest while many travelers would like the convenience of in-air cell phone use, a majority of air travelers cringe at the prospect of fellow passengers chattering throughout flights. That has led to suggestions for such options as allowing cell phone use only in certain sections of planes and for "tap not talk" policies, allowing the use of BlackBerry hand-held devices but not cell phones.
The FCC has proposed an end to regulations that prohibit passengers from using cell phones, BlackBerries and similar technology during air travel, so long as the planes carry proper technology to prevent communication disruptions for pilots.
The proposed rule change has landed in Washington with a splash, and government agencies are squaring off over its numerous implications.
Some, like the Federal Aviation Administration, which shares jurisdiction with the FCC, are concerned about the proposal. The FAA plans to keep its own ban on the use of portable electronics for now, creating an obstacle for the FCC's proposed change.
The Justice Department, while not completely opposed to lifting the ban, is concerned about the possibility of terrorists using cell phones to hide explosives or communicating with each other during a hijacking.
Flight attendants also have concerns. They fear that passengers who talk often will annoy others, leading to more episodes of air rage, raising additional safety concerns.
The airlines are still wrestling with how to approach these issues. And so are the regulators, as evidenced by a congressional hearing Thursday in Washington.The FCC has regulated wireless communications on aircraft since 1991. But the agency has re-evaluated its guidelines in light of new technologies that allow air-to-ground transmission without disrupting ground-based communication networks.
The FAA's regulations are in place to prevent cell phones or other wireless devices from interfering with on-board communication systems, or avionics.
The FAA remains unconvinced that aircraft communication and navigation equipment can be adequately protected from on-board interference, Nicholas Sabatini, associate administrator for aviation safety, said Thursday in a written statement to a House aviation subcommittee.
"To prevent possible interference affecting an aircraft's navigation and communication systems during the critical phases of flight, such as take-off and landing, we recommend that air carriers prohibit the operation of any portable electronic device during these times," Sabatini said.
"Regardless of the final outcome of the FCC's proposed rulemaking," he said, "the FAA's safety regulations regarding portable electronic devices on board aircraft will remain in place."
Nonetheless, the FAA has been willing to entertain the use of new wireless technologies on a trial basis, with strict guidelines concerning the type of device and the model of aircraft. Specifically, the FAA has experimented with "pico" cell transmitters, which can be mounted on an aircraft and would allow passengers to use wireless devices without interfering with equipment in the cockpit.
The FAA has also certified for trial a Wi-Fi system, a high-speed wireless Internet technology developed by telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. and United Airlines.
Other agencies, including the Justice and Homeland Security Departments, have weighed in with concerns of their own.
Much of the worry centers on terrorism and the possibility that wireless devices could be used to coordinate on-board attacks or detonate remote-controlled explosives.
"Despite the tremendous benefits new technologies bring to our society, there are always some who will misuse these technologies for criminal, and sometimes lethal, purposes," said Laura Parsky, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division.
Security and law enforcement agencies are also requesting court orders for broader in-air surveillance capabilities, namely the authority to monitor the voice and data transmissions of suspicious passengers.
"Lawfully authorized electronic surveillance is an invaluable and necessary tool for federal, state, and local law enforcement to protect national security and public safety," Parsky said.
Federal air marshals have been pushing authorities to broaden their air-to-ground communication capabilities so they can better share and assess intelligence while on duty.
source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0507150146jul15,1,1457847.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed 15jul2005
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers yesterday expressed reluctance about allowing the use of cellphones on planes, citing safety and annoyance concerns. Homeland Security officials raised new concerns about terrorists' ability to use such devices to carry out attacks.
While many business travelers are pressing to use their cellphones on flights, Federal Aviation Administration officials are moving slowly on studying their safety. In addition, public comments suggest that a lot of travelers don't want to listen to others' phone calls.
Both the FAA and the Federal Communications Commission have said they are considering allowing cellphone use on planes but neither has set a deadline for reaching a decision. The FAA will receive an independent safety review of the issue by the end of next year.
The slow-track FAA review of cellphone usage also is slowing consideration of wireless Internet usage on planes. FAA officials yesterday insisted telecom carriers and airlines will be required to undertake rigorous safety testing of any wireless device, including cellphones and wireless Internet, before allowing them to be used onboard.
"The last thing most air passengers want is to be forced to listen to their neighbor chat on their cellphone about their ailments, dating problems, the latest reality TV show or up-to-the-minute estimated time of arrival," said Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.), who is chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, which held the hearing.
Justice Department and Homeland Security officials have said that if cellphone usage is allowed they would like the FCC to require surveillance access to voice and data traffic on planes and to establish rules that would allow federal officials to pinpoint the seat location of people using phones inside planes.
It isn't clear whether the FCC has authority to require such measures and if some of the requests are technically feasible.
Justice officials want greater power to intercept calls and data traffic on planes than they do on the ground. They also want to be able to obtain the seat number or general location of callers, and to have the ability to cut off or redirect calls and equipment in cargo holds to jam wireless signals that could detonate explosives.
Some airlines have voiced support for a "tap not talk" policy that would allow passengers to send text messages or access the Internet from their cellphones. The FAA has commissioned a study on the safety of using cellphones and other wireless devices on planes, but it won't be completed until December 2006.
The FCC set off this firestorm in December by raising the possibility of approving the use of cellphones on planes and has received more than 7,000 comments since, mostly against lifting the ban. The FCC currently bans cellphone use on planes because of interference issues with cellphones on the ground, although new technologies appear to have alleviated that concern.
It could be some time before the FCC makes a decision on the issue, but there is some support there for lifting the ban. "Our job is to determine if it's technologically feasible and safe. Our job is not to decide etiquette," says Democratic FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "We're not Emily Post."
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WASHINGTON — Substantial challenges remain to the in-flight use of mobile phones even if communications regulators ease their ban, the Federal Aviation Administration told lawmakers on Thursday.
FAA rules restricting the use of portable electronic devices on aircraft can be waived but a carrier would have to show that each model of phone posed no threat to aircraft navigation or communications systems, the agency's top air safety official said.
"The FAA is not changing its rules," FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Nicholas Sabatini told the House aviation subcommittee.
"If an air carrier is willing to take the time and incur the expense of testing and verifying that the cell phone usage presents no in-flight interference problems, our rules allow an air carrier to permit such devices," Sabatini testified.
In December, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission proposed lifting its ban of in-flight mobile phone use, provided it is technically feasible and does not overwhelm ground-based networks.
The FAA last year allowed a test of a "pico cell" device on an American Airlines (AMR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plane that was designed to keep phones operating at their lowest power level.
And last month the FAA gave United Airlines (UALAQ.OB: Quote, Profile, Research) approval to install equipment on 757 aircraft that will give passengers wireless Internet access.
But Sabatini warned that each technology must be shown to be compatible with the specific type of aircraft to be used.
"That's a substantial challenge with ever-changing cell phone technology on the one hand, and, on the other, increasingly advanced and complex aircraft technology as the national airspace system moves to satellite navigation," he said.
Sabatini also said in-flight use of mobile phones could annoy fellow passengers and lead to conflicts that could distract flight attendants from their safety duties.
"This will be one of the issues that we will continue to assess and monitor if cell phone technology proliferates onboard aircraft," he said.
Rep. Peter DeFazio wondered if flight attendants would have to put a check mark on a passenger's head to indicate that their phone was compatible.
The Oregon Democrat said safety should be guaranteed before restrictions were lifted. "I don't think we want to take the chance that the plane might go down because some idiot is having a trivial conversation," DeFazio said.
source: http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20050714:MTFH08482_2005-07-14_23-52-33_N145876:1 15jul2004
For once all that crazy government red tape might be working in our favor: sure, the FAA might ease up a bit on the rules banning cellphones from use during flights, but in order to get a waiver airlines would have to go through and test each handset that might be used by passengers to make sure that it doesn’t pose a threat to aircraft navigation or communications systems. And we all know that ain’t gonna happen. The FCC has been a little more receptive to people using their cellies in the air, but it’s like launching a missile from a submarine: both the FCC and the FAA need to sign off on this before it can become a reality.
source: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000313050660/ 15jul2005
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